ACS helps Oklahoma agency in award-winning effort to help citizens.

DALLAS -- Some elderly and disabled residents in Oklahoma now have access to cash benefits that they may not have known existed, courtesy of an award-winning effort by the state's Department of Human Services, with assistance from Affiliated Computer Services Inc.

The initiative, led by Lisa Henley, OKDHS director of electronic payment systems, is the winner of the department's 2009 Quality Award, which recognizes OKDHS projects that best serve the citizens of Oklahoma. ACS is an operational partner to OKDHS by administering its electronic payment card program that provides state benefits to citizens on a debit MasterCard.

Henley's team contacted Oklahomans who are recipients of the State Supplemental Security Income program to make them aware of their available benefits and help them receive the funds. The innovative eight-week program reached out to approximately 800 clients, connecting them with more than $425,000 in benefits. ACS assisted by providing no-cost services and the information necessary to help the state make the funds quickly available.

"I want to thank ACS for supporting the program. For the Oklahomans who rely on these benefits, ACS stepped up to help the state make this project run smoothly," said Henley.

Oklahoma is a model in the use of ACS' electronic payment card technology. Citizens can access multiple benefits on a single debit card, including supplemental security income payments, child support payments and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

"Through the use of ACS' innovation, Oklahomans have quick and convenient access to their funds, and the state saves more than one million dollars a year by moving away from paper benefits," said Joseph Doherty, executive vice president and group president of ACS Government Solutions Group. "The program to help citizens recover funds is another example of how OKDHS genuinely cares about the citizens that it works hard to serve every day."